Mickelson tweets that he’ll play in Champions tour event in the Ozarks starting Monday

“Lefty” is coming to Missouri.

Two PGA Tour Champions events are taking place in the Ozarks, and Phil Mickelson, a household name in professional golf, will play in one of them. It’ll be his debut in an event on the PGA Champions Tour, which is open to pros over 50.

The Charles Schwab Series features two 54-hole tournaments played over a nine-day period in Ridgedale, Missouri. The Charles Schwab Series at Bass Pro Shops’ Big Cedar Lodge has been taking place this week and concludes Friday at the resort’s Buffalo Ridge Golf Course.

Mickelson, a 44-time PGA Tour victor and five-time majors winner, will play in the Charles Schwab Series at Ozarks National Monday-Wednesday, Aug. 24-26, at Ozarks National.

Both events feature $3 million purses and are being broadcast on TV via the Golf Channel. Fans are not allowed due to COVID-19 concerns.

“I’m going to play the Champions event this Monday,” Mickelson tweeted Friday. He turned 50 in June. “I’ve been playing well and I want to play. I wish I was playing in Chicago next week but excited to play my first Champions event.”

This weekend, Mickelson is playing in The Northern Trust at TPC Boston. His opening round of 3-over bounced him from the FedEx Cup playoffs. He’d previously said he wouldn’t be playing in any Champions events while he was “still hitting crazy bombs.”

The Ozarks venues being used for the Champions tournaments this week and early next week are two of the courses at Big Cedar Lodge, which hosted the Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf from 2014 to 2019.

The fields for the two Champions events was also slated to include World Golf Hall of Famers Bernhard Langer, Ernie Els and Fred Couples. Langer was tied for second midway through Friday’s final round behind leader Shane Bertsch.

“We are excited to once again partner with Johnny Morris and the great team at Big Cedar Lodge to bring the excitement of PGA Tour Champions golf back to the Ozarks,” PGA Tour Champions president Miller Brady said in a statement. “Our players have terrific memories tied to this amazing property, and I know Buffalo Ridge and Ozarks National will be tremendous venues for our fans watching around the world on Golf Channel.”

Buffalo Ridge was designed by Tom Fazio with help from Morris and was used during the Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf. Ozarks National opened in 2018 after being designed by former PGA Tour star Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore.

Morris said in a statement that he is pleased the tour is returning to the area south of Branson.

“We look forward to providing a challenging, memorable experience to all of the players and are very grateful to our friends at the PGA Tour for helping us showcase the beauty and wonder of the Ozarks with the world,” he said.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, PGA TOUR Champions previously said that its tournaments in 2020 and 2021 would be combined to form one season. The next Charles Schwab Cup champion will be crowned in November 2021 at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

This story was originally published August 14, 2020 at 2:51 PM.